It was 5:04 p.m. in the 504 when the New Orleans Saints made what might’ve been their most consequential decision of the 2025 season.
After nearly three quarters of ineffective offensive football, Saints coach Kellen Moore decided there was no more reason to wait. With the Saints trailing 17-3 late in the third quarter, rookie quarterback Tyler Shough jogged onto the field with the starting offense in place of Spencer Rattler.
The fans in the Superdome met the decision with cheers. That was the loudest ovation Shough would get for the rest of the day.
Getting his most extensive playing time of the season, the No. 40 overall pick turned in roughly equivalent results to what New Orleans had gotten out of Rattler. Shough completed 17 of his 30 attempts for 128 yards with an interception, and none of his four drives resulted in points.
“At the end of the day, we didn’t score enough points, so it sucks,” Shough said. “We'll look at it, and especially myself, and see how I can get better, and then we'll continue to grow as an offensive unit to try and get the job done.”
But this is less about what happened Sunday and more about what to expect for the rest of the season. Even though Moore declined to name Shough the starter beyond Sunday’s game, something clearly shifted in the loss to the Buccaneers.
“We’ll make that evaluation here quickly and make some decisions moving forward,” Moore said. “But this had to do with the whole offense not playing well enough and hopefully trying to generate some form of a spark there.”
Things appeared to be trending this direction in recent weeks.
Though Rattler had outplayed the modest expectations of him coming into the season, the Saints entered their Week 8 game with a 1-6 record. Rattler’s individual play had also started to slip; the negative plays he’d avoided early in the season began to pile up in losses to the Bears and Buccaneers, against whom he took a combined seven sacks while committing six turnovers.
Though the outside questions wondering when Shough would get his opportunity began to get louder, inside the building the Saints did not have any sort of meeting or conversation with their young quarterback about him getting on the field any time soon.
Shough, instead, prepared the way he had all season: He operated the scout-team offense, featuring the Saints’ backup offensive players, against the first-team defense.
Those reps were effectively the extent of his on-field preparation. While Shough studies his own offensive game plans every week in the event his number would be called, his actual playing time was almost exclusively limited to the scout team.
That had its benefits, though.
“For me, it's just football,” Shough said. “You're not going against a scouted look, a look of what you may see. … So how can you make it like a game? And that's kind of been the emphasis (from) my quarterback coach, Kellen and all the guys: How can I make this game-like?”
Shough had some bright moments Sunday, despite the results. He made some difficult sideline throws and was generally decisive with the football. Of his four drives, two reached inside Tampa Bay’s 25-yard line.
“I thought Tyler did great to be able to get in in the middle of the game and be able to execute some of those plays,” veteran wideout Brandin Cooks said. “It didn’t seem too fast for him.”
His teammates also did not always help him out.
Tight end Juwan Johnson had one obvious drop to negate a potential explosive play and missed another catchable opportunity to convert a fourth down. The interception came when Shough pinned a throw to Chris Olave’s chest, only to see Tampa Bay safety Antoine Winfield arrive during the process of the catch to rip the ball out of Olave’s hands.
Shough had some regrettable moments, too. The Saints were in comeback mode while he was in, meaning Tampa Bay consistently sent pressure his way, sacking him twice and disrupting the timing of several other plays. Shough also overthrew a potential touchdown pass to Rashid Shaheed, a play that happened quickly with pressure closing in.
Now the Saints have to decide their next move. New Orleans has another difficult game on the schedule next week, a road game against a 5-2 Los Angeles Rams team that is coming off its bye week.
If New Orleans does decide to turn the offense over to its rookie quarterback, he stated a simple goal.
“I want to win,” Shough said. “We’ve got to go out there and execute and win.”